Boulder cyclist inducted in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame

Pete Webber wrote book on sustainable trail building

W hen she nominated Pete Webber to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, Jenn Dice, Webber's coworker at the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), didn't expect the nomination to garner an induction right away.

"You see people on the lists for several years," Dice said. "And it's a pretty stacked ballot."

On Sept. 14, during Interbike, the cycling industry's annual trade show in Las Vegas, Webber was inducted to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame for his extensive advocacy work, which includes creating two thoroughly illustrated books that are used by land managers around the world for sustainable trail building.

Don Cook, co-director of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, said "it's not the norm" for nominees to win induction the first year they're nominated.

"All inductees are voted in by current inductees as well as a voting public," Cook said. "It's a blend of both. And Pete was on the ballot with other advocates, so it wasn't like he was the only advocate people could vote for."

In Webber's nomination, Dice wrote:

"IMBA has sold nearly 30,000 copies of the two books in 60 countries worldwide. They have been adopted as official policy by many land managers, cited in scientific literature, reproduced in myriad websites and manuals, and served as the core curriculum for thousands of trail building classes. It's hard to find a trail boss or public land official who doesn't have these books on their shelf."

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Though these books have had a global impact, Webber's friend Brandon Dwight, owner of Boulder Cycle Sport, said he's had a big impact on mountain biking in Boulder, too.

"I think a lot of people don't realize how much volunteer work he's done over the years and continues to do to this day, whether it's for Boulder Mountainbike Alliance, or the racing community, or for Valmont Bike Park, he just gives, gives and gives."

Webber started mountain biking as a teenager in Maine.

"I was an alpine ski racer, and I started mountain biking as dryland training for ski racing," Webber said.

He started cycling more and skiing less.

"By the time I graduated from college, I had given up skiing totally and had shifted all my focus to mountain biking," he said.

Webber moved to Boulder in 1993 "to be in the heart of the mountain-bike racing world," he said. Boulder also happened to be the place where IMBA moved its headquarters to the following year.

"I was ready to stop racing at a pro level, and I wanted to settle down," Webber said of his transition from racing to working at IMBA. "It seems funny, but I wanted to have a desk job. I'd been racing and had been an athlete for so long that I was ready to chill and to rest."

But advocacy work wasn't necessarily restful.

"Some of the things I did at IMBA were much, much harder than the challenges I faced as a racer," he said. "The two books that we created fit that category. The first book, 'Trail Solutions,' is the hardest thing I've ever done."

In addition to organizing extensive information for "Trail Solutions: IMBA's Guide to Building Sweet Singletrack" and "Managing Mountain Biking: IMBA's Guide to Providing Great Riding," Webber has done plenty of local trail design and building.

"Pete did the Benjamin property at Betasso, and the Springbrook Trail," Dice said. "Right here in our backyard, there are four trail systems he's had a hand in."

"You know what it's like if you're a skier or snowboarder to have a great powder day?" Dwight said. "If you design a really great trail, you can get that same feeling of exhilaration, even climbing a great trail, it doesn't just have to be descending. Pete understands how fun it can be to ride great trails, and he always wanted to provide people with that same feeling."

"Whenever you go for a ride with Pete, whether on a road bike or a mountain bike, he wants it to be a great experience."

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